Handcuffs and Heartache
by basketcse
Summary: Set at the end of book twelve. Stephanie can't seem to get back in the groove after the events in her apartment post Scrog. She makes a decision and acts on it and this story is about the life changing results. Eventual Babe HEA. Some funny and my signatu
1. Chapter 1

These are not my characters. They belong to the author Janet Evanovich and thank you for letting us borrow them and run with our fantasies.

I have been working hard on my original and the editing and pushed back to take a break and read a little the last couple of days. I got an idea for this story and it popped out and was finished with a decent ending by this afternoon. So, thought I would start putting it up for you. It is pretty much canon with a Babe HEA. However, even though it has some funny in it, read the title. It's a tale woven with a good bit of my trademark angst.

Not unfriendly to any other characters in the story.

My beta girl, alix33, has not seen it yet. So, all mistakes are mine until she pops in and cleans it up for me. Thank you girlfriend!

Warning - The beginning is hot and spicy!

**Handcuffs and Heartache**

**Chapter 1**

It had been two months to the day since Ranger was shot and lay bleeding on my living room floor. He was alive and well and mostly recovered now from the ordeal. But, I wasn't. Over these weeks it was like my life had drastically changed and nothing seemed the same.

I hadn't seen much of the man in black since the day he got out of the hospital and I showed up at his apartment with cake and flowers. He had dosed me with some Ranger humor and told me all I needed was one Ranger. Boy, wasn't that the truth. However, right now, I was missing him so much that I would be happy with just half a Ranger.

I had told Joe the day Scrog shot Ranger that I loved him and that was true. What I had not told him was that I loved Ranger too and I loved him a little more. When Joe had tried to rekindle the romance and move on with our relationship, I stayed idling and unmoving and not very enthusiastic. Finally, after one night of trying to start my engine and keep it running for an hour, he threw up his hands and gave up.

He wasn't angry when he sat up on the side of the bed and put his hands through his dark hair. He turned to me and reached out and gently rubbed my leg and sighed. "This is it, isn't it, Cupcake?"

I nodded. "Yeah, Joe. I think it is. I meant it when I said that I loved you and I always will. It's just not the forever kind for me and I'm not really what you want."

He said with a little contempt in his voice. "It's him you love more. I saw it that day. I've never seen you come apart like that. Have you slept with him?"

I reached out and touched his hand. "Just one night a long while back. I didn't cheat on you Joe. We were in an off period during the time. He hasn't pursued me for a relationship. He doesn't really want one."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Then why are you pining for him if he doesn't want you?"

I shook my head. "Not too bright, I guess. I don't know. We just have a bond."

He growled, "If that fucker hurts you, I'll shoot him."

"No you won't. It will ruin your cop career. He's already hurt me before. He's a man and he's not perfect," I smiled at him and touched his unruly black hair.

He leaned down and wrapped his hand around my neck and kissed me. "Love me one more time before you hit the road, Cupcake. Me and Bob are going to miss you like crazy."

I wrapped my arms around him and turned his head and whispered in his ear what I was going to do to him and his boys.

That had been two months ago. We had lunch a couple of times and Joe was making an attempt to move on. There was a new female transfer to the station and she was just Joe's type and he had just recently asked her out for a casual dinner and they had hit it off. Goody for him. I was sitting here lonely, except for Rex. I was missing Ranger like crazy.

While reading an article about men and their fantasies in Connie's new issue of Cosmo at the bonds office, a plan began to hatch in my head. I was trying to think what would be Ranger's fantasy? The old lingerie and the raincoat thing was too cliché for him. Oh, he would like it, but I wanted to think of something that would really bring out the animal in him. Black leather and whips were probably in his kinky wheel, but not necessarily in mine. I didn't like pain. I just endured it when I had to. Then the perfect idea came to me. Something very hot and nostalgic for us and worth a repeat performance and if I pulled it off just right, it would bring out the wild cat and the gorilla in him. Oh boy!

I got up and headed out to prepare and fine tune the details of my plan. I went to the salon to see Mr. Alexander and got my hair trimmed and straightened for a sexy change. Then I headed to a little day spa place I knew in a strip mall and got my fingers and toes manicured and my doodah cleaned, polished and waxed. When I came out, I noticed two things. It was winter and now I knew for sure why animals wanted to keep their fur. My bare doodah was sensitive and catching a breeze. The other thing that I noticed was the sign a couple of doors down and I impulsively walked in. I stood there looking around at all the art on the walls and a guy came out from behind a curtain and greeted me.

He smiled at me. "Hey sweet and sexy. What can I do for you?"

I took in a big breath of air and puffed out my cheeks and blew it out. "I'm impulse shopping I think."

He laughed. "Never heard that one before, put exactly like that. Impulse and shopping here is usually combined with spirits. You have any tats?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Big chicken here."

He laughed again. "What were you thinking when you opened the door to my little shop of horrors? Maybe we can start there."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Duh, you're not helping with that visual. I was thinking that I wanted to surprise a special guy with something that would make him say, "Wow!"

He grinned. "A tattoo on your woman can definitely do that. I'm a guy, I know. What would you like it to say and look like?"

I thought for a minute. "Well, this is probably a bad idea. His street name is Ranger. Maybe the name with some nice script, but feminine looking."

He thought for a minute. "Are you talking about that scary cat, Manoso?"

I looked a little embarrassed. "Yup, probably one and the same. So, if we do this, you can't mess it up or you could wake up naked in a third world country."

He threw his head back and guffawed. "You are one funny, chick. I got an idea. Take a seat and let me sketch it for you.

He came back in a few minutes and showed me a sketching of a small tattoo in a really pretty script and he had wound a vine through it that accented the script and it was threaded through a heart. I said, "Wow. That is a beautiful design."

He chuckled. "Guess I got it right. Next question, where do you want it?"

"Well, this is mainly for his eyes. I don't want everyone to see it."

He walked around behind me and stuck it to a butt cheek. "We could put it where it would fall just under a bikini line on your rump. It's a popular and sexy place for a tat on a woman."

I grinned at him. "Okay. Is it going to hurt bad?"

He said, "Nah!" Then he reached behind the counter and handed me a sucker and I giggled.

An hour later, I had my first tattoo and he put a big bandage on it and told me to take it off in a little while and keep rubbing vitamin E oil on it so it wouldn't scab over bad and would heal quickly. I was surprised that it hadn't really hurt that bad. He was a sweet guy and we'd had a nice conversation while he was working.

I did the drive-through thing for dinner and fed Rex when I got home and finished working out the rest of my plan and jumped in the shower for a quick hosing off. I dried and smoothed my hair straight in the couple areas where I got it damp and lotioned and rubbed some vitamin E on my tattoo and into my elbows and knees. I dabbed a little bit of dolce vita fragrance all over my body. Ranger liked to kiss and he liked to kiss everywhere. I then checked my teeth and my breath and dug my two pairs of handcuffs out of my bag. Ookay, it's now or never. I shivered a little.

Being that I wasn't sure where he was exactly, I waited to see if he would answer the phone before I handcuffed myself to the shower rod. I hit speed-dial one and crossed my fingers, because if he didn't answer, I didn't think that I would have the courage to try this again.

"Yo."

"Y… Yo, yourself." Shit, I was already shaking in anticipation.

"You okay, Babe?"

"I...um need a little help."

"Where are you?"

"My apartment." Click. I looked at my phone. I guess that meant he was coming.

I attached one pair of cuffs to the rod and then took the other pair and cuffed both wrists and then reached up and clipped myself to the pair hanging off the rod. Then I shivered and waited and shivered and waited for what seemed like an eternity. An eternity that was really only a few minutes. Hey, I was naked and nervous here. Finally, I heard my locks tumble and very quiet and cat-like steps moving through my apartment. Then his big hands appeared through the doorway of the bathroom wrapped around a gun and then one leg appeared and then the gun moved in my direction and half of Ranger appeared. When he saw me, the serious face changed and began to soften. As a he lowered the gun, a smile began to spread across his handsome face and I watched as his dark eyes began to smolder.

I was a bundle of nerves wrapped in a bundle of crazy wiry nerves. Similar to that big ball of outside Christmas lights that you dread pulling out of the box every year. The one you barely manage to get unraveled to put up. My thoughts and eyes moved back to Ranger. My nerves were even effecting my brain. He was still standing in the doorway. His eyes slowly traveled from my head all the way down my body. They stopped below my waist and he licked his bottom lip. Ooh, good sign. They began to travel again and moved all the way to my toes and slowly back up until he was looking at my eyes. That took as long as it did for him to get here. He said, "Babe..?"

Shivering and at a loss for words and courage, I said, "It's about time. I was freezing my _patukas_ off."

He holstered his gun and slowly walked up to me, but made no attempt to free me. "Who's responsible this time?"

I looked in his eyes and hoped that he saw something in mine that would reveal everything that I was feeling so that I didn't have to say the words. I whispered and said simply. "I am."

He shrugged his wool pea coat off his shoulders and let it drop to the floor along with his utility belt. He slowly walked up to me and snaked a hand around my waist and one gently around my neck and pulled my face toward his and then just rested his cheek against mine. He whispered in my ear, "Are you sure, Babe?"

I whispered back. "Couldn't be any more sure. I…" The words were just lost on me in that moment, but evidently he understood what I was trying to say. He slowly brought my mouth to his and just simply touched his lips to mine. Just the anticipation alone made me moan against those gorgeous and 'oh so sexy' lips. He ran his tongue across my bottom lip and then took my mouth first slowly and sweetly and then it became more demanding. I groaned and opened my mouth for him and he didn't move to enter. Sweet Jesus. I wanted to beg him to enter.

I was trying to get closer to him and thrashing on the cuffs so that I could take control of the kiss and I couldn't get close enough. I thrust my tongue in his mouth and he captured it and sucked me in and kissed me in earnest. He kissed me until my knees literally buckled and he caught me as he always did and looked in my eyes while running his hand down my back to my ass.

I looked at him intensely still shivering and said, "In a million years, I could never learn all the Ranger rules. They're exhausting. I was kind of hoping we could make up our own now. Maybe get on the same page."

He said simply, "Babe."

That hand was now kneading my ass and moved south and my breathing hitched. I shivered again, "Well, you kind of do owe me. I planted bugs on my ex for you and I jumped him and beat him up a little. That was big." He was grinning and amused now. I looked down at the front of his pants where he sported a massive bulge. And, he was aroused. Great sign. He moved just an inch closer to me. I glanced down at myself and groaned feeling the moisture between my legs turn liquid like water just from the heat emanating from him. "Yup, that's big," I gasped.

The grin notched up a big degree into a wolf grin and his fingers started down my butt crack and he stopped at my hiney-hole and I jumped and squeaked. He just lingered there rubbing little circles and I wiggled and gasped out, "Holy hand grenade…" This was butt stuff and he was still going to make me blow.

His tongue flicked out and licked the inside of my ear and goose bumps popped out all over me and he whispered, "What do you want?"

I turned my head into his neck and licked and kissed it. "You. Without the qualifiers."

"Babe, I've already told you…" I took his earlobe between my teeth and sucked.

I whispered. "Ranger, I'm already yours. Turn me around."

He raised his head and stepped back and slowly turned me. He was silent for a minute and then I felt his hand run down my back and stop right at the apex of my butt crack and he rubbed there and then moved it over and lower. Then he did the sweetest thing. I felt his lips moving across the still sensitive skin. The heat of his body left me and I moaned in protest. I heard the rustle of clothing behind me and then his hand was on my stomach and moving down slowly and when he touched my smooth mound with his hot hands, I gasped and my knees nearly buckled again. I felt his breath at my neck and then he licked the place where my pulse was pounding and sucked the tender white flesh there into his mouth and moved those hot fingers between my dripping… Ohmigod!

TBC -


	2. Chapter 2

**You guys are funny. Thanks for the welcome back from a couple of you and all the nice reviews. Might as well start fanning. I have more bloomer toasting Ranger love happening in this chapter. **

**Chapter 2**

We both had groaned as his fingers found me. I had waited for so long for him to touch me like this again. His breath, his smell, his smooth skin, his magical touch. He was mesmerizing, intoxicating, hypnotizing, thrilling. No one word could quite capture Ranger in describing him as a lover. I think he would have made more money and made it faster without having to dodge bullets as a high priced gigolo. I felt his chest shaking behind me and then he chuckled. "Babe."

He stepped one foot into the tub and lifted me and pulled me back onto his, "Attention!" Good soldier. Maybe that military training was good for the discipline alone. I felt his chest shaking again. Then he guided my hips and slowly impaled me and we both gasped. Oh mercy, I forgot how generous he was in the jewels department. Our breathing was labored as he stopped and let me adjust to the invasion and the sheer size of his soldier's assault. When I was comfortably stretched and he felt me clench him, he whispered in my ear, "Wrap your legs back and around me, Babe."

I did as he asked and he held me with one hand and then began moving my hips. He was using his other hand like an instrument and was playing a delectable tune on my swollen rose bud. I was not going to last very long at all. I whispered, "Ranger, I can't… I'm going to…"

He was breathing hard. "Don't ever hold back from me. Let go."

I did let go and when I moaned and gasped out his name and clenched him as the power of my orgasm took me, he yelled out and did the same and I felt his hot semen coating my walls and his leg inside the tub that was touching mine was now trembling.

He kissed my neck and held me for a minute until his breathing slowed and after making sure that I was okay to stand on my feet, he left me for a few seconds. When he came back he reached up and began releasing me from the handcuffs and lifting me out of the tub. He sat me down on the floor and ran his hands through my smooth hair and pulled my head to him and kissed me. At first it was gentle and then more demanding as he grasped my tongue and sucked it into his mouth and then he began moving on it and making love with firm gentle strokes just as he had done inside me a few minutes ago and I moaned again.

If I had any doubts about my plan before, they had just dissolved into dust and been blown away by this kiss. He lifted his head just slightly and said against my lips. "Thank you for this, Babe. You just let me experience one of my fantasies." Yes! I wanted to bust a move and start pumping my elbow up and down, but that just wouldn't have looked very sexy with me being nude and all. He was grinning at me again and I rolled my eyes. "Have I been talking out the side of my stupid head since you've been here? Have you heard everything that's in there?" He laughed out loud. "Pretty much, Babe. I love that you're an open book."

I shivered again and he smiled and said, "As much as I've tried to warm you up, I bet you're cold. Let's go snuggle under the covers." He threaded his fingers through my hand and pulled me to my bedroom and I got in and he rolled over me and got in beside me and we pulled the covers up and he reached for me and pulled me close. He said in my ear as he touched my bare mound, "So, is this for me too?" I nodded.

Then he said, "Tell me about the other?"

I looked in his eyes. "Ranger, I chose and this time there is no going back to another man no matter what you try to tell me to do."

He grazed my breasts with his knuckles. "It is permanent. I've told you before that once you go in…"

"I know. There 's no leaving. Remember, you're the one that keeps leaving," I said exasperated.

He sighed. "I thought I was doing it for the right reasons. To keep you safe."

I laughed. "I'm no safer without you."

He chuckled. "True. What do you want from me?"

That one was easy. "Your love."

"Babe, you already have it."

I touched his handsome face and ran my fingers through his loose hair. "I want to know you. Who you are and how you got to be you."

"I can't tell you everything about how I got to this point and there are things I wouldn't want you to know about me. That side of me would scare the shit out of you."

I turned and looked directly into his eyes and wrapped my arm around him. "I know that you've killed people. You're a soldier and you've had to do things to make the world a safer place. You did these things for your country. You're not bad. You're doing an awful job that hardly anyone else in the world is capable of doing and I'm proud of you. The only fear I have where you're concerned is losing you. I can hardly breathe without you. I know, because I stopped breathing when Scrog shot you and I thought you were dying."

He moved over me and kissed my neck and then my face and eyelids and my lips and settled himself between my legs. He pulled them around him and entered me and held me so close as he slowly loved me while speaking words against my lips and into my ear in Spanish. His hands roamed over me, touching and caressing me everywhere. He continued the slow rhythm and I held him to me losing myself in his heat and the sound of his heart beating against mine and I was hoping with my entire being that he wouldn't push me away again tomorrow.

A tiny beep made my eyes flutter open and I raised my head from the warm taut chest it was buried in and locked eyes with Ranger. He turned his watch alarm off and reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his phone and checked it. I watched as his eyes and faced turned from warm to blank and expressionless. He detached my hands from him and rolled and said, "I have to go, Babe."

A heartbreaking déjà vu flooded me and I felt my breath leaving me. Why did I jinx myself by thinking negative thoughts while he was making love to me. I sat up and wanted to reach for him and then lowered my hand and looked up into his blank face. I was only able to get two words out. "Never...again."

He looked at me for a few seconds and just when I thought he might say something, he grabbed his boots and coat and walked out of my bedroom without looking back at me. I flopped back on the bed trying to right my world and get my breath back. He had just rejected me, again.

He had just lain my heart to waste in the room that I had pledged myself and my love to him in my own way. I didn't think that I could live in it any longer. There were memories of him in my bed, in my shower, on my couch and his blood was still on my living room floor. There was no Joe to go back to and my mother was withholding cake and would barely let me in after my break-up with him. She was more heartbroken than we were. Then, how stupid am I? I had branded myself with his name. No one else would ever want me now.

I laid there in my thinking position as tears pooled in my eyes and slowly began to fall and dampen my pillow. Then the sobs came and I closed them and rolled over and hugged myself. My world had stopped turning this morning and in order for it to move again, I needed to change. I needed a new life. This Stephanie Plum didn't have much going for her here and this life had been stagnant for a long time anyway. After I was cried out for the time being, I got in the shower and washed him away and made coffee and fired up my laptop.

I put down my coffee mug and typed in bounty hunter jobs and waited for the results. Only two that looked serious came up. The rest were phony rip offs. Pay someone to teach you to be a badass. Do I look like a badass? Do I want to look like the "Dog" and his woman? Nope. Not even. With the popularity of the reality TV show "Dog", had come the imposters, kooks, nuts and wannabees to this business. One of the listings that I was looking at was in Texas and the other was in Buffalo, New York.

I called the one in Texas first. I told him that I was calling about the BEA job and the guy asked me who was calling. I looked at my phone and said, "I'm calling."

He chuckled. "Sorry toots. I don't know who put you up to this call. I got news for ya' though. Everything's bigger in Texas, including the fugitives. It's not a job for the fairer sex if you know what I mean." I growled at the phone and hung up on him. Yeah, I know what you mean you sexist butthead!

I wanted to throw my phone. Instead, I paced and chugged some more coffee and mustered the courage to make the other call. Naturally, a person of the sexist kind answered again. "Yello. Bedford Bonds."

"Hello. My name is Stephanie Plum and I'm calling about your listing for a BEA agent."

He asked, "You have experience?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

Well, this was going a little better. I said, "Trenton, New Jersey."

"Give me a minute." I heard him typing and then he was quiet a couple of minutes and then he barked with laughter. I cursed and started to hang up the phone when he said, "Wait! Don't hang up. What's the story? You moving?"

"Yes." I grumbled. "I'm looking for greener pastures. Yours have to be greener. We don't have any in Trenton."

He chuckled. "That bad, huh?"

I said, "Whatever you read, it wasn't my fault. I need a change of scenery and bulls, a fresh start and um...new stalkers. The bull crap is too thick here. Can't breathe." He barked with laughter again.

I said, "I'm hanging up now."

"No, no. I'll take you on. I need an office girl now, like an assistant. We can work you in. We have different requirements for BEA agents here and it'll take you a little time anyway. You willing to start out that way?"

I thought for a minute. I could maybe be a Connie for a while. "Well, sure I guess. Can you recommend an apartment complex nearby?"

He said, "You want to board first and take your time finding a place, I have a friend with a boarding house near. Nice lady."

That actually sounded good. "Okay. Can you email me the details. I just need a day to wrap up things here and I can be on my way. I already paid rent for the month and if I board, I can worry about moving out later in the month. It will give me time to get settled."

He said, "Sounds good. Can't wait to meet you Ms. Plum."

I said, "Call me Stephanie or Steph and I'll call you when I get into town."

"Okay. I'm Mason. Mason Bender. See you soon." We disconnected. So, just like that. I have a new job and I'm moving to a new place.

I turned and looked around my apartment. The wheels were in motion now and I wasn't going to change my mind. Like yesterday, I knew I could do it if I kept the momentum going. I was going to do this thing and dammit, I was going to try my best to do it good!

I had one outstanding skip and I would get him today and tell Vinnie that I was quitting. I would wait to talk to my apartment super in case my move didn't work out, close my meager bank account and have dinner with my parents tonight and pack. Tomorrow morning I would be leaving the smog of Trenton and heading for a new home.

TBC -

Don't be mad at me. I'm just making him an idiot until the end of the story. JE is _still_ writing him as one. Snicker.


	3. Chapter 3

**If you were confused a little about what happened the morning after then this chapter will clear it up. They don't use many words to communicate. Most of them are the ones that she doesn't realize she's saying. Kooky. Happy reading!**

**Chapter 3**

The neighborhood I grew up in was at one time mostly made up of Italians and Germans and then there were the Hungarians and other European heritages in the mix. Herman Bittner was currently the neighborhood bully and bigot. He wore swastika tattoos and called himself the modern-day Nazi. He was middle-aged with a shaved head and wore all black with piercings on his face and ears and who knew where else. I didn't even want to know the else places. He was only half German, but a whole big embarrassment to the other German residents of the neighborhood. He was mean as a junkyard dog and assault and battery on wheels and just borderline below what Vinnie usually allowed me. I wasn't looking forward to the apprehension, but I needed the money for my escape from Trenton.

After studying this guy's file, I decided that the best way to approach him would be when he arrived home from work. I reluctantly put a bullet in my gun and charged my stun gun and checked my pepper spray. I would do this and I would be done with this place and all my crazy skips. I could begin a peaceful kind of life where nobody knew my name including the local newspaper.

The apprehension was successful except that he assaulted me with his damn wheels when he tried to back out and run and he broke my arm. Thank goodness he had put his window down to flip a cigarette out and I had just barely been able to get my stun gun through the opening and zap him before I fell on the ground cursing and crying and holding my arm. His vehicle rolled back into the ditch across the road and stopped. Front wheels up in the air and still rolling. I cursed and got up and stomped my way over and wrenched the door open with my good arm and zapped him again in the ass just for the heck of it. Then I handcuffed him to the steering wheel and called my friend Eddie the cop. I was pressing charges against the big Nazi booger.

Eddie asked me questions and filled out his report. I told him that my arm was just sprained and pulled my coat over it and made like it was no big deal so they wouldn't call an ambulance. Then I lied when he asked me and I told him that Bittner was unconscious because he really loved his truck and he passed out when it hit the ditch. He had given me a huge eye roll and said, "That's a big load and you know it. And, I know your arm is probably not just sprained. You've been standing here gritting your teeth and cursing under your breath this whole time. You hate the ambulance and hospitals." He knew me and was right and I just didn't want to do the ER and the 'burg' grapevine thing before I left.

I followed Eddie and his partner to the station and waited in my car groaning in pain. I was leaning against the window and taking deep breaths when there was a knock. It was Lester Santos and Bobby Brown. I rolled down the window and held my arm to me. Lester stuck his head in and said, "Hey beautiful, how you doing?"

I smiled weakly and said, "Fine."

Bobby looked at me and furrowed his brows. ""Stephanie, are you alright?"

I smiled at him. "Yep. Just got a bug. Eddie is getting my receipt so I don't infect anyone." I rolled up my window and waved at them with my good hand.

They reluctantly started to walk away and Eddie came out and said hello to them and spoke a couple minutes and they had a chuckle or two. Lester and Bobby turned and looked at me as they were leaving and nodded. Durn it, Eddie! See? This is what I'm talking about. Nobody minds their business in this city. He came to my window and handed me the receipt and I growled at him and said goodbye and chugged out of the parking lot leaving him standing there with a big question mark on his face.

I drove to an emergency care center and got my arm ex-rayed and casted and got to the bonds office in time to drop the receipt and give my notice and go to the bank. Vinnie was so furious when I told him that I was quitting he was ready to pop an artery. Thank goodness it was winter and the ducks had mostly headed south. I recommended he call Joyce the skank to fill in for me and the poor ducks. Connie and Lula had wanted to talk when I came out of his office and I just told them that I didn't have time and would call them. I hated doing that to them. I just really couldn't explain to them right now why I was leaving. When I got settled, I would call and invite them to come and stay a weekend with me.

I had dinner at my parents' house and my mother grumbled at me, but she did feed me dessert. I just ate fast and hugged them all and scooted out the door before she really got started on the Joe issue. I snooped in the garage and found a couple empty boxes and headed to my apartment. I packed when I got home with my one arm and I was trying to figure out how I was going to get it all to my car when there was a knock on the door. I looked through the peep-hole and it was Eddie. Yay! Good timing, buddy. I opened the door and let him in. "Hey Eddie, what's up?"

He said, "I was concerned about you. Did I do something to upset you? And, you did lie. You have a cast on your arm! Since Morelli's out of the picture, some fool has to fill in for a while."

I kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for being concerned and yes I did lie and I was aggravated that you talked about me to Ranger's guys because I'm trying to stealthily make an exit from Trenton tomorrow. And, I don't need a babysitter!"

He furrowed his brows. "What do you mean by that? You saying you're leaving?"

"I needed a change. My life is stagnant. I got a job in another city and I'm going to see if I can get it moving again in a positive direction. So, keep your cake hole shut for just twenty-four hours, Gazarra!"

He said, "You were just going to leave and not say goodbye to anybody? None of your friends? I knew something was off with you today."

"Eddie, I was going to get settled and call you. I was trying to leave quietly so no one would get in my way or try to stop me like Ranger."

"Ah, so that's why you didn't want me talking to his boys," he said.

I poked him in the forehead. "Ding, ding. Give the man a prize."

"Smartass. I'm going to miss you, but I understand and I'm proud of you, Steph."

He surprised me by saying that and I hugged him. "Thanks, buddy."

"Don't suppose you're going to give me any details tonight about where you're going?" He asked.

I gave his arm a squeeze. "Nope. This way, even if Ranger takes you down to his interrogation room in the basement and strips you naked and electrocutes your nipples and pulls out all your finger nails and staples your scrotum to the chair, you won't know a thing. You'll be golden when he finally gives you the lie detector test. Oh, I do need to use you for your muscles to get my stuff to the car. I'm short an arm."

"Jesus, Steph! I was going to try to get Shirley in the mood when I got home. I'll never get my balls to drop now." I started giggling and he grinned.

He carried my stuff out and I promised to call him after I got settled. I was only taking my clothes, my meager box of kitchen items and cookie jar and bathroom stuff and some personal mementos, like my photo albums. When I was cleaning out my bedroom closet, I had pulled a dress out that reminded me of Ranger and a night that I did a distraction and I put it back. I left all the outfits that reminded me of him in my closet and I folded the two Rangeman t-shirts that I'd stolen from him a long time ago and left them on my dresser.

I had poured my heart out to him like I had never done before with any other man and in the only way that I could. Words weren't easy for me and neither were they for him. After his watch went off, I had seen him leaving me and pushing me away before he even got out of bed. His face spelled last departure and no room in this life for additional passengers. I understood even without the words. There was no room for any one else in his life, but him.

I was stupid if I didn't take a chance and see what else might be out there for me. I should look at leaving like I'm going on an adventure. There was no reason to stay here now. I pulled out of my lot the next morning with Rex in the passenger seat of my new piece of crap. I had gone out early in the morning to trade my burgundy Crown Vic with the tracker attached for a used Toyota Corolla. The salesman said it was a car that I could drive the wheels off of before it quit and I chose to believe his salesman bull hockey because I needed to put some miles on those wheels. I had mapped out my route and headed to I-476 north and didn't look back.

* * *

><p>Lester and Bobby had come back from lunch and knocked on my office door. Lester said that they had stopped at the Plum bonds office and Vinnie was in an uproar. Stephanie had broken her arm and had quit yesterday. They told me they had seen her at the police station and she didn't look well and Eddie had mentioned that he thought she was hurt and was hiding it. They said that Lula and Connie had no clue why she was quitting and wouldn't talk about it. They said she had just hugged them and had left immediately after Connie gave her a check.<p>

I tried to go back to my paperwork and finally growled in frustration and threw the pen down. I grabbed my coat and bolted out of my office and drove to Steph's apartment and ran up the stairs and walked to the door. It was quiet and I picked the locks and walked in. I knew that she wasn't there as soon as I stepped into the foyer. I didn't feel her. I mean, I really didn't feel her. Not here and not anywhere close. I walked into the dining room and kitchen. Both were clean and I looked at the counter where Rex's habitat normally sat. It was gone and so was her cookie jar. I opened the refrigerator and it was empty. Same with the cabinets. I went from there to her bedroom. The bed was made and the room neat and tidy. Her dresser drawers were again, empty. Then I noticed the t-shirts laying on top. The ones she had taken from me and liked to wear to bed.

I opened her closet door and looked inside. There were just a few items left in there. Some dresses and skirts and blouses and then I recognized one and then another and another. They had all been her distraction outfits at one time or another. I picked up a pair of shoes from the bottom of the closet and held them. A memory touched me and I smiled. She hadn't left in a hurry. She had planned her departure. The last room that I checked was the bathroom and as soon as I walked in, my eyes turned to the shower. The curtain was pulled and the room was empty and so was I. My Babe was gone. Did I go too far and succeed in pushing her away for good? I couldn't believe this and I couldn't believe the way I felt right now. Shit, this was bad.

She had tried to tell me in her way that she loved me and given herself to me and I had rejected her heart and left her, again. I had been awake for an hour thinking when my watch went off. I had convinced myself that it still wasn't time yet for us. I thought I could keep her at arm's length and hooked enough to keep buying myself time and she would just be there when_ I_ was ready. The government jobs would be over, some time would pass and I could integrate her into my life the way _I_ wanted. She had seen right through me, all the bullshit that I was going to say was written on what I thought was my blank face and she called me on it. What a pompous, selfish prick you are, Manoso. She branded your name on her ass and you still turned her away and she's the only woman you ever wanted to be a part of your life. She put her life in danger to rescue your daughter. The realization that I had possibly done irreparable damage and might never get her back was like a prize fighter's left hook. I stood there dumb struck. Stephanie, where did you go and when are you coming back?

I talked to her building super and he didn't know anything and then went back to the office. I checked the tracker on her car and it was stationary. I sent Hal to check and he had come back with it and handed it to me. I looked at him and he shrugged and told me the vehicle was sitting in a used car lot for sale. I dialed Vinnie, her parents and even Joe Morelli. She hadn't told anyone where she was going.

I sat there frustrated and almost angry because I was helpless and had no more control over her or her life. With that thought, I realized that I was no better than Morelli for her. I had always underestimated her as he did and she always surprised me. I would have never seen this coming. Her decision to just pack and walk away from her life here and start over? Another testament to her strength.

A surprising emptiness and loneliness suddenly overwhelmed me. With it, came a darkness that I hadn't felt in a long time, not since before meeting Stephanie in that diner so long ago. It would take me over and back to a very bad place and time if I let it. How had I not known how much she really meant to me and how much I needed her. It had never really ever been the other way around. She's the one I thought about at night when I was cold and wet and exhausted on my missions and she's the one that I fought like a demon to come home to. My life changed after that day in the diner. Shit. I've been in love for three years and didn't recognize it for what it was.

Tank knocked on my door and stuck his head in. He took a look at me and said, "Damn, brother. You look like somebody just ran over your dog."

I sighed and rubbed my hands down my face. "No. I'm the one that screwed the pooch, pal. I'm a selfish prick and an idiot."

TBC -

So, Stephanie saw him. She saw right through him and knew what he was going to do. She maybe even guessed it before he knew himself. Remember she has good instincts where people are concerned.

Sorry if I offended any of my good German friends and fans with the Bittner character. I have encountered his type of person myself. You can find one anywhere. We have them in the south by another name.


	4. Chapter 4

**Stephanie and I are giving our good friend Proudofyoubabe a toot on the way to Buffalo here. She pointed out how miserably cold that city can be in the winter. It sits on the blustery Lake Erie and near Niagara Falls. The Falls almost froze solid this year. Shiver. Thanks for the reviews!**

**Chapter 4**

The trip was only supposed to be six and a half hours. The wind was howling and the snow was blowing and it was colder than a...well it was just bleeping cold. By the time I got past accidents and snow plows and just the regular idiot on the road, I had been at it for nine hours plus the pit stops. Finally, I began seeing signs for Buffalo exits. When I took the one that Mr. Bedford had told me to get off, I pulled over and called him. He had said that he would meet me and I could follow him to his office. I waited about ten minutes and a big GMC truck with an extended cab pulled in beside me and an attractive middle-aged man of maybe forty with slightly graying hair rolled down the window and asked, "You Stephanie?"

I nodded and he smiled and said, "Follow me."

We drove for just a couple of miles and he pulled into a small parking lot and I pulled in next to him. He met me at my car smiling and stuck out his hand. "Mason Bedford. Somebody trying to blow your wheels up again, little lady?" I rolled my eyes and took his hand and shook it.

I said, "It's usually not my fault when it does happen. The newspaper just doesn't like to print that part. It makes me look like less of a joke."

He put his head back and laughed and told me to come into the office out of the blistering cold.

He showed me around and told me that he had lost his office girl and needed both an office person and assistant and a BEA badly. He had one other BEA guy and partner, a retired cop. He told me that there weren't very many of them to cover the territory and they were always up to their eyeballs in fugitives. In other words, plenty of work to keep them busy. He was sure that this would work out great if I could help in the office and work my way into the BEA position. I would have to complete a BEA certification course and start out as a private investigator in New York. He had thought about it and when we talked about my experience, we had both decided that it would work out great with me doing the leg work and using my skills in finding the skips and then they could pounce with the local law enforcement and do the captures. They held close relations with law enforcement here and were required to include them in take-downs. We talked about a salary and some insurance and it was reasonable and would get me in an apartment and on my feet starting out. So far, it was all good.

We went out to dinner and he asked me about my arm and I told him it had happened after I called him and told him the story. He cracked up when I told him that I zapped the guy in the ass a second time because I was so pissed he broke my arm. I told him that I was ready for a new batch of fugitives and that I was sick of my crazy ones. He laughed and told me a little about himself and his business and partner. He was divorced and had one boy. He was in high school and busy with his own life. The boy was smart and played sports and he went to all of his games and supported him as much as the boy would allow. His business was pretty much his life. That sadly reminded me of someone else I knew.

He said, "There is a sweet lady named Nell with rooms for rent a few blocks away and she's expecting you. Meals are included with the rent and she is a fantastic cook. I stop once or twice a week just to mooch."

I said, "Well, that is perfect and we have something in common. I'm a food mooch too. I can heat a can of soup and a frozen meal in the microwave and I can do a drive-through. I'm ready to meet this lady."

He grinned. "I'll take you there, Suzie Q." I tried to raise an eyebrow at that and he noticed my failure and chuckled. "It's the curly hair. You're going to be Stephanie and Suzie Q." I just shrugged. I'd honestly been called worse and I kind of liked this guy. I could tell that he was the good kind.

Nell turned out to be really nice and she had a room ready for me and fussed all over me when I got there. We had a piece of chocolate cream pie that was to die for and Mason and Nell both snickered at me as I groaned and moaned over it. He left me his phone numbers and told me what time to show for work the next day and kissed Nell on the cheek before he left.

I paid Nell for a month with cash and she got me situated in my room. It was a comfortable room with a double bed and nightstand and a sitting area with a small bookshelf. It was clean and smelled nice and the linens were clean and fresh. She showed me one of the baths and it was clean and nice as well. This would be a perfect town and a perfect place to contemplate my future I thought.

I sat Rex down on the table and plopped down in the chair in the sitting area and turned on my phone. Sixteen messages? Oy! There were five from my mother and a couple from Connie and Lula. My super, Dillon had left one and Mary Lou had left one and Vinnie, Joe and Grandma and the rest were from Ranger. I didn't really want to listen to any of them tonight and turned off my phone and got ready for bed. I said goodnight to Rex and crawled in the comfortable warm bed. I was exhausted and out in minutes.

I ate breakfast with Nell and her other border the next morning. He was a sweet old man named Willy. I told them that I would see them at dinner and headed to the bonds office. I helped Mason to update his filing system and set up a better accounting system for his payables and receivables and did research for him and his other BEA. He was ironically named nicknamed Skip. We met later in the afternoon when he came in and was a nice guy and a good friend of Mason's about his age. Both of their backgrounds had been in law enforcement. Mason had been a detective and Skip had been a County Sheriff and had been voted out of office and partnered with Mason in the business. Skip was the one that liked to wrangle the fugitives in and Mason did the bond writing. Within a week, I had fell into a comfortable routine with the men. I tried to help them as much as I could and they reciprocated with simple gifts of appreciation as they got to know me, like food. Doughnuts and a lot of lunch dates. They both liked to take me so that they could hear tales of my skip chasing in Trenton for a good laugh. It didn't bother me. My skips were pretty crazy and things were pretty calm in Buffalo. Boy, did I love that.

Every time I caught a glimpse of my tattoo in the mirror it made me feel sad and stupid. I had branded and disfigured myself for nothing. I made an appointment to see a dermatologist on my lunch hour about getting it removed and came back disappointed. It would take between $1600 to $2000 dollars to get it removed over several sessions and I didn't have money to burn right now. Heck, I never had money to burn. If I really didn't want to see that name on my backside, I was told that my best alternative was to get a good tattoo artist to cover it with another tattoo for $100 or less. A bigger tattoo. I sighed. I would have to think about what to do. I didn't really want a larger tattoo and it would take a while to save the money to get the one I had removed and there would still be a scar. Stupid, stupid Stephanie!

Exactly three weeks after I left Trenton, I raised up out of bed and ran to the bathroom and tossed what was left of Nell's good dinner the night before into the toilet. That was odd. Guess I had one of those twenty-four hour bugs. The next morning, I tossed the remains of my dessert and that had been a good pie.

The sickness continued every morning and then sometimes during the day and after another two weeks I knew what was wrong. I just chose denial and ignored my problem. I couldn't bring myself to do anything about it yet and couldn't believe his stupid super batsperm had penetrated the protection of my birth control. Unbelievable, that I had put my foot down and refused a family with Joe and was always so careful. Look at me now? I would have two reminders of the dumb mistake I made before leaving Trenton. I couldn't be in a lower place in my life as I was right now. The only thing going for me was that at least I didn't have to suffer the abuse of the 'burg gossip mill.

I could tell when Mason began to get concerned about me because I was the color of guacamole on most days now and Nell was fussing too about my drop in appetite. At breakfast one morning, Nell said, "Stephanie, honey. I made you an appointment with my daughter and I'm going to pick you up from the office before lunch today and take you."

I raised both eyebrows, mostly because I couldn't raise just one and said, "I appreciate that, but I'm fine, really. I don't need to see a doctor."

She sighed. "Stephanie, you're pregnant and you need to see a doctor and start taking care of yourself. You barely eat now and you don't go anywhere except from this house to Mason's office. The rest of the time, you just stay in your room with your little furry friend. You even lost interest in finding your own place. You're welcome to stay here as long as you like. The point is, that I just want to see you taking care of yourself. I think you're depressed on top of being hormonal." She gave me a warm smile. "As long as you are under my roof, it's my rules. We are going today."

I groaned and said, "But, Nell, denial was working good for me."

She smiled. "It's not really good for you or the baby. You have an extra passenger to think about now." Fuck. She outed me and did a guilt number on me too. I could have stayed in denial land for a while longer. I could have even moved to denial land.

Nell came to get me at lunch time and handed me a sandwich when I got in the car. I asked her about the doctor and she smiled and said, "My daughter is an OB. She has an office on the other side of town and that is where we're going."

I was surprised and said, "Nell, you must really be proud of her."

She nodded. "I am."

I said, "You've never mentioned children and grandchildren before. I was afraid to ask because I thought if you wanted me to know you would tell me."

"She is my only child and Mason is my son-in-law. He probably told you about his son. He's a busy boy. I always loved Mason like the son I never had and he's always loved me like his own mother. It broke my heart when they divorced. They have a good relationship, however."

I said, "Wow, he never mentioned that. He did tell me about his boy. Said he was smart and good in sports." She smiled and nodded.

Nell's daughter was Dr. Andrea McCleary. Nell said that she had always used her maiden name as her professional name. She had a couple of partners and one had just gotten a call to deliver a baby. She was very nice and confirmed that I was pregnant and talked to me about prenatal care, taking vitamins and eating right. Nell gave me a gentle elbow during the discussion. She determined a tentative due date based on what I knew and told me to schedule another appointment in a month and next time we would all plan lunch together. Then, she did me a huge favor and called the care center in Trenton and removed the cast on my arm for me in her office since it was time and had only been a hairline fracture.

Nell figured that I needed a boost and we went for dessert at a local place that she liked and they had a signature line of sweet treats. She had picked up within a couple of days that I like my food and I really liked cake. They had an attached bakery and I was looking at all the yummy cakes and pies and stopped at a big fluffy chocolate cake in one case and then at another with a fancy pineapple upside down cake and my mouth and my eyes watered. Nell put her arm around me and said, "That looks pretty good, but I make a pretty mean chocolate cake and upside down too." She nudged me away from the counter and out the door and eventually dropped me back at the bonds office with a treat for Mason.

That night I said to Nell when we were cleaning up after dinner, "I don't want to be alone. Can I stay during my pregnancy?"

She put her arm around me. "I was thinking the same thing. I was hoping that you would ask." Nell was like the perfect grandmother. Her home represented a warm heart and open arms and love to everyone that came through her door.

I had paid apartment rent for another month in Trenton since I was saving a little by living with Nell. I would soon have to give it up and get my furniture here. My stuff wasn't worth much. I didn't buy nice replacement furniture after my apartment fire and dead people started showing up and other stuff happened to it. I was afraid that I would just lose it again. With my new situation, I was leaning towards calling my super, Dillon and telling him to keep it or give it away.

Almost two months had already gone by and I felt comfortable in this place. No one was putting pressure on me or making fun of me. I wasn't embarrassing myself and I felt like I could breathe again. I wanted to stay and grow some simple roots. I was in a way flying. I was independent and doing a job that I loved and had a few nice friends that treated me with respect and like equals. I did miss my friends and family in Trenton. I had called them all and the majority had understood my decision and supported me. Ranger just seemed like a bigger than life character now and I really didn't fit with him. In time, I was hoping he would just be like an old erotic dream that I remembered in a pleasant way. One, I just happened to have had more than once. That was the day that I let go of the past.

TBC -

pit stops = bathroom breaks


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow! You guys are really split down the middle when it comes to team Ranger and team Stephanie. I guess the unspoken word is as powerful as the spoken, huh? Well, this is a fairly short story and we'll be moving along. Thanks for all the reviews. Appreciate all those guest reviews. Keep them coming! **

**Chapter 5**

Mason had acted like he wanted to talk to me more than once and I guess that he was just being nice and didn't want to make me uncomfortable. I finally told him and Skip the situation that I currently found myself in during lunch one day. They asked me if I minded talking about the father and I just told them the truth. They had both been shocked. They knew who Ranger was by reputation in the business.

I looked at Mason and said, "He chose himself, his business and the government jobs over me. He's the biggest reason why I left. He's like a dark Batman and he's an opportunist and I'm kind of a simple girl that doesn't have any defenses against him. Things would have never changed."

Skip said, "Don't you think that you should tell him you're pregnant?"

I snapped, "No, I don't. It was an accident. I was on birth control. It wasn't my fault that all of him has super powers. Besides, he has a daughter in Miami that he gave up years ago. He'll just put me on his lawyers' list to send me a check every month."

They both were grinning. Mason said, "Take the check. Kids are expensive."

I said, "I'm really sorry guys. I guess I really screwed up your plans. If you want me to find another job, I will."

Mason said, "Nah, we already knew and talked about it. We'll just work around it. Shit happens. We'll go ahead and get us another office girl and you can train her before you have to take leave."

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate it. I really like my job here."

Mason asked, "You going to stay with Nell?"

"Yes. I don't want to do this by myself," I said.

He asked, "Don't you still have that apartment in Trenton with your furniture and stuff in it?"

I said, "Yeah. I was just thinking about calling the super before the end of the month and telling him to give it all away. I didn't buy really good stuff the last couple of times because it kept getting messed up and destroyed with stuff like firebombs and dead bodies." I sighed and they were both shaking their heads and grinning.

Mason said, "I got nothing to say to that..."

Skip laughed and said, "It's supposed to be nice this weekend. We could rent a truck and go to Trenton and get it. Mason's got enough room in the storage area in the back of the bonds building if it's not much."

"It's not, but that's a lot of trouble you guys. You don't have to do that."

Mason said, "It's your stuff. We're doing it. Make arrangements with your super and let him know that we're coming."

* * *

><p>I hung up the phone smiling. Finally, I'll get the chance to talk to her. Almost three months had gone by and nobody really knew where Stephanie was. She'd contacted her friends, but she didn't tell them where she was living. She hadn't returned any of my calls. I had so far been unable to track her. She closed her bank account and her credit card account and she wasn't using her phone and her trail was cold. It would be months before I'd be able to pick up a new paper trail on her. She still had her apartment here which was a good sign. I had leaned on the apartment superintendent and told him that he had better call me if she comes back or contacted him. That's who just called. She's coming this weekend to move her furniture.<p>

I walked into Stephanie's apartment and two men turned and looked at me. One of them said, "Can we help you?"

"Where is Stephanie?"

One of them looked at me a minute like he was sizing me up. "She moved, Rambo. She says she's contacted all of her friends to let them know. You must not fit that category."

"Tell me where she is…"

The other guy said, "You know what? I think you need to leave."

I said, "You tell her that I want to talk to her and I will find her. And, soon."

The smart mouth one said, "Sure we'll give her your message. What's your name, buddy?"

"Ranger."

I turned and walked out. Fuckers and dammit!

I ran down the steps and got in my truck and called Hal. "Yeah, boss."

I barked, "Bring me a couple trackers. I'm at Stephanie's apartment in the lot."

I watched as the men began loading furniture into a truck while I waited on Hal. Watching them bring her stuff out and knowing that she'd made her final decision twisted my guts a little. No, make that a lot. They were bringing out her bedroom furniture.

Hal's SUV pulled into the lot and he walked over to my window and asked me if I wanted him to place them. I told him no and sent him back to Rangeman. When the men went back inside for another load of furniture, I jumped out of the truck and reached under the wheel well and placed the tracker and ran back to my truck.

I watched them for an hour and then before they got in the truck, smart mouth reached under the wheel well and felt around and turned and smiled at me and dropped the tracker and stomped it. Son of a bitch! They knew who I was and had evidently been watching me. I had no choice. I was going to have to follow them. I pulled out my phone and called Tank and told him that I was going to be offline for the rest of the day.

In seven hours I found myself in Buffalo, New York. Damn, Babe. You could have picked a warmer place for a new home. It was early spring and still blustery cold sitting on Lake Erie. The two men knew I was following them. They had waved when they pulled into a truck stop to get gas. So, I just stayed close to them.

Not two minutes after I followed them off an exit, I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw blue lights and a cop on my bumper. Damn it! As I eased over to stop, the truck slowed down and a hand appeared out of each cab window and waved at me and then the truck sped off. I guess the fucker's called for a little help from a friend. Stephanie's friends were loyal. If I hadn't thrown in a couple of cases of beer with my threat to her super, he probably wouldn't have called me. I knew the where now and I had an idea that she was still in the business that she knows. The cop had given me a good tip. I saw him getting closer to the door and rolled down the window and smiled at him. "Good evening, officer. Glad to see you. I actually needed some help. You happen to know where the closest bail bonds office is?"

* * *

><p>I walked out the door of the bond office and the hair stood up on the back of my neck and I felt the tingle. The one that always alerted me to his presence. Shit! I knew when Mason and Skip told me that he followed them that it would just be a matter of time. Why would he even be here? What did he want? He didn't want me except for a sex toy. Oh, jeez. A memory flashed and nearly blinded me and smoked my panties. Okay, so maybe being Batman's sex toy was not all bad. He wouldn't want to play with this one now anyway. I shook my head and the memories loose and pulled my jacket protectively around my tiny bump and got in my car and headed home to Nell's.<p>

It was past dinner and I was in my room reading when I heard the doorbell ring and I felt him. I had told Nell a little about him at dinner because I knew that he was close and there was the possibility that he might show up at her door. I needed to warn her so that he didn't scare the shit out of her. Mason and Skip had told me that he tried to intimidate them. She asked me what I wanted her to do. I told her that I wanted to put off a confrontation with him as long as possible. However, I warned her that he was intimidating and a little scary sometimes and if he bothered her that I wouldn't put her in the middle.

I opened my bedroom door and listened. Nell opened the door and I heard his voice for the first time in almost three months and I shivered and a lump formed in my throat and I couldn't hardly swallow. He asked her to see me. Nell said, "She knew you were coming tonight, son. She doesn't want to see you."

He said, "Ma'am, I really need to talk to her."

She said, "The best I can do is give you my phone number and if she wants to take your call, it's up to her."

He tried again. "I drove up from New Jersey and I'm not leaving without seeing her."

Nell said, "Don't you get pushy with me. You won't see her here. Those are her wishes. Goodnight." I heard the door close. Whoa. Nell is a tough cookie. She didn't cave for Batman.

I had felt him for two days and I never saw him. I had to go to the police station to pick up some reports and body receipts for Mason. Since there were so few BEA's in Buffalo and the police department worked in conjunction with them, they just kept files for each one and placed the receipts or any paperwork for them in the folders. We just picked it up a couple times a week. When I came out of the police station and opened my car door, an arm wrapped around my middle and I screamed. There were at least three cops in the parking lot and they all turned and came running.

The hand around my middle splayed and moved and then dropped and I took several steps away from him before I turned.

He looked down at my stomach and then up into my face. The cops were there and one of them I knew. He said, "Stephanie, you okay? This guy bothering you?"

I looked at Ranger's blank face and said, "Yes. He didn't hurt me. I just want to get in my car and leave."

Jackson said, "You just stand right here a minute, big guy. Stephanie, go ahead and get in your car and take off."

I pulled out and raced back to the bond office and ran inside. Mason came out of his office and looked at me standing there breathing hard and terrified. Why was I terrified? He had felt my stomach and he has ESP and now he knows. I saw it in his eyes. Shit, shit, shit!

My stomach felt queasy and I felt faint as I watched his Porsche drive into the parking lot. I grabbed my purse and ran into Mason's office and slammed the door. I heard the front door open and Ranger's voice. "I need to see Stephanie, now."

Mason said, "Are you stalking her? Because if you are, I'll have to call my friends again."

I heard Ranger say, "I don't know you and I don't want trouble and I don't want to hurt you . Where is she?"

Mason said, "I know who you are and what you are and I'm not scared. She doesn't want to see you. She ran out of here when she saw your car pulling in. State your business with me."

"It's personal. Where is she, in the office?" I heard footsteps.

"Wait just a damn minute, boy. You don't walk in a man's place of business and make demands," Mason barked at him.

Ranger yelled, "Stephanie, come out here before somebody gets hurt."

I heard the safety of a gun click twice and I ran out.

"Wait! Stop, Ranger!" They both had barrels and eyes on each other.

I snapped, "Damn you. You have no right or reason to be here. You made your choice, now leave me alone!"

He glanced at me. "Babe, we are going to talk right now. You have something to tell me."

His eyes moved back to Mason. "Mr. Bedford, I have personal business with Stephanie. Please excuse us."

Mason glanced at me and I sighed and nodded. He clicked the safety back on his gun and turned to go to his office, but didn't shut the door.

I growled at Ranger, "You're determined to ruin my life aren't you? I'm trying to start over here and you're threatening my boss and going to get me fired. What do you want?"

He glanced at my stomach. "Is it mine? Tell me." He knew that I hadn't been with Joe for almost two months before that night that I called him and then I left within two days and the fact that he could think that I would sleep with someone after what he did flashed me flaming red with anger. I took two steps and slapped him across the face as hard as I could. He didn't move, but he sure blinked and I did see the eye on that side of his face watering just a little.

I growled out, "Leave and go back to Trenton, Ranger. You have no business here."

TBC -


	6. Chapter 6

**The rest of this story is pretty light on the angst and it winds down very quickly. Lots of split feelings on this little ditty. It's okay. My job is to extract a response. I did get a rather vulgar review yesterday, but like I said before, I won't make all the readers suffer for one bad apple. You can see my response on my blog if you are so inclined to read it. You may also, talk about this story. Again, I appreciate the readers and mostly get a big kick out of all your opinions and reviews!**

**Another note. My beta who is not American pointed out that my slang is hard to understand sometimes and she can't even get a handle on it by Googling. LOL I know she's right because American slang is crazy and different depending on where you live. She wanted me to explain toot and Suzie Q. I apologize to my readers across the globe that find yourselves frequently scratching your heads in frustration. Feel free to ask when in doubt.**

**Toot = blow of a car horn or a fart (LOL)**

**Suzie Q = In the south a curly-headed little girl. I should have made it Curly Sue after a movie and many more of you would have gotten that. **

Previously -

_He glanced at my stomach. "Is it mine? Tell me." He knew that I hadn't been with Joe for almost two months before that night that I called him and then I left within two days and the fact that he could think that I would sleep with someone after what he did flashed me flaming red with anger. I took two steps and slapped him across the face as hard as I could. He didn't move, but he sure blinked and I did see the eye on that side of his face watering just a little._

_I growled out, "Leave and go back to Trenton, Ranger. You have no business here."_

**Chapter 6**

He looked down at the floor and I could see his posture change and when he looked back up at me, his face had changed. "Babe, I came to apologize. I made a mistake."

I had roaring hormones riding on top of this raging rhino and I was trying to hold my water. My eyes and my bladder. I said sarcastically, "Durn right you did! You want me to say something to make you feel better? I said never again and I meant it. You don't want me except for your favorite play toy and you don't want a commitment with anyone except Ranger. I'm working on making some positive changes here. Go back to the Bat cave."

He sighed. "I would like for us to talk in private."

I waved my finger at him. "Oh, no. I know you. You'll try to use your super stuff on me and touch me. Not going to happen. You used me when you made that first deal because either you were curious or just wanted to fuck with me and Joe, you hurt me with your actions and all your words and qualifiers. Any man that can send a woman back to another man's bed is more in love with himself. I knew that, but I thought I saw something in your face and your eyes that day when Scrog... I still took a chance and put it all out there and I was wrong and it hurt. Anyway, I put a lock on that love door and it's closed now. I'm moving on, buster! So, go on home."

He blanched a little at my words. "You never told me that you loved me."

"It's irrelevant anyway now. Ranger, I broke up with Joe and I got your name tattooed on my backside. I was all in and I had hoped for better results. Guess I didn't give it as good as I thought," I said sadly and plopped down in a chair. I began to feel nauseous.

"You got pregnant that night? I would say that you gave it too good." He looked down at me with the corners of his mouth twitching.

I had to look away and I hung my head. The thought that this baby _could_ have been a true love child struck me and tears began rolling down my face.

He whispered, "Babe?"

I looked up at him. "I'm sorry, Ranger. I didn't want this to happen. I don't want anything from you, I just want to move on. The days of the Professor and Eliza are over, not much trust between us anymore."

It was hard to describe the look in his eyes. He went to speak and nothing came out just like that morning that he broke my heart. I shrugged and smiled and got up and turned my back to him and walked into Mason's office and shut the door and walked into his open arms and sobbed. He held me and let me snot and slobber all over his shirt until I felt a little better.

He just waited for me to talk and then I let loose like I had diarrhea of the mouth. I was waving my arms and stomping around his office like a crazy woman. "He was my mentor, he protected me, he made a dumb deal to sleep with me and discarded me and sent me back to my old boyfriend, he let me blow up some cars and injure some of his men and still stayed close to me. I even think he might have killed for me. Then he asked for my help with something that was precious to him. His daughter. Then he was shot in my apartment and almost died and I realized how much I loved him. Two months later, I tried to prove how much and failed miserably. He chucked me aside again. And, somehow he managed to get a bat baby in the oven. Now, we're nothing. The end of Stephanie and Ranger."

I sniffled and wiped some snot off his shirt and on to mine. "I had no idea that I was preggers when I accepted your job and I would have never put you in this position. Mason, I'm so sorry he came into your place today and aimed a gun at you because of me."

I lowered my head and opened the door. "I'll help you to find somebody to replace me as soon as possible."

He said softly, "Stephanie, like I said before. Shit happens. You know he might just care about you more than he's even aware. How long has he been looking after you?"

I turned to him. "Three years."

He smiled and said, "That boy is in love, but if you're sure that you really want him to go away, I have a plan."

I was dreaming about my Prince Charming. He had arrived dressed all in white and dismounted from his noble white steed to kiss me and wake me and then a gun went off and he dropped in the white fallen snow before he got the chance to kiss me awake As his red blood began to pool and spread outward, a dark figure loomed over me and put his cold lips to mine and began to devour me and at first I whimpered and then I screamed.

I was breathing hard and heard footsteps and the bed moved and then the door opened. Light flowed into the room and a woman appeared. Nell. "Stephanie? Are you alright?"

I was confused. "I think that I just had a bad dream. I'm sorry that I woke you."

She asked, "Can I bring you anything?"

"No. I'm fine. Thanks. Goodnight."

She smiled. "Goodnight, dear."

I looked into the darkness and said, "Ranger."

The bed moved and without seeing, I felt his hands reach for me and I said, "No. I meant it when I said never again and I'm moving on. I don't get you at all." I used my bad dream to get back at him. "You gave me a nightmare. Please don't touch me again."

In about a minute, I felt the bed move and I heard the rustle of clothing and I didn't hear the door open, but I saw the light from the hall and I knew within another minute that he was gone.

* * *

><p>I knew that I would eventually find her. I just had no idea that I would find such a different person. She was wearing her hair different, it was neat and up in a twist on her head. She was dressed like a professional woman in a suit and boots. It was because she was so thin that I felt the knot that was her baby belly. I know her body and realized what I was touching almost immediately. One painful thing I noticed was that her blue eyes were no longer bright and smiling. They were dull and sad. I sat in my car outside the house and laid my forehead against the steering wheel. I deserved this. I did hurt her. I've pushed her away and left her and said so many stupid things to her. What she'd said about locking away the love and the end of us had twisted my guts a little. Damn. I'm going to be a father again, but this time, had I not been an idiot and a total cad, I could have been there for every blessed minute of it. I was surprised that I felt that I really wanted to be a part of it all.<p>

Stephanie was sorely hurt and angry that she'd given herself to me and I walked away the next morning without a word. What an ass I am. She detests my touch? Dios! She had a nightmare about me? I could have lost myself in that brief moment when I had the chance to touch her warm sweet lips. I've missed her and those kisses. Querido Dios.¿ Què voy a hacer? (Dear God, what am I going to do?) I rubbed my eyes and started the car and headed to the hotel. I needed sleep and I needed to re-group.

I woke up the next morning grinning. I dreamed of Stephanie smiling up at me and holding a tiny baby boy in her arms. I was determined now to make that dream a reality. As I had driven to Buffalo, I had felt lighter every mile that I'd gotten closer. My Babe was here and I had felt the pull like a magnet.

I quickly ate some breakfast and called Tank. "Yo."

"I'm in the wind."

"You can't be. Your contracts up."

"Tank..?" I growled.

I heard typing. Then he snickered.

"You found the Bombshell. Buffalo, huh?"

I sighed. "If I don't stay, I'll lose her forever. I fucked up bad."

He chuckled. "Good. Work your shit out. We were ready to go to Washington on your behalf and sign your grouchy ass up for a mission to outer space."

I sneered, "Watch it, Tank!"

He laughed, "This is real good. The great Manoso, groveling. Man, I'd like to have that on video."

I growled again, "You're dangerously close to a demotion by ass whipping. I have to stay. I'm going to be a father again and keep that under your hat."

Then I heard in the background whoops and whistles and congratulations.

I snapped, "Fuckers." I heard Tank's booming laughter as I disconnected and then I grinned.

I pulled in next to her car a few minutes before 1700 hours and got out and walked in the bonds office. Her boss, Bedford, was waiting for me inside the door.

"I was expecting you back. Your business in Buffalo has concluded. Stephanie is now my wife and my business. We would both appreciate it if you would leave."

I narrowed my eyes at the man and stilled myself to keep from tearing him apart. "What do you mean your wife? She's carrying my baby. She is mine!"

He shook his head while grinning at me. He said one word. "Wrong."

I gave him a glare that had made men piss themselves before. "You're bluffing."

He walked over to a desk and snatched a document off of it and held it up to my face. It was a marriage certificate with today's date on it.

I roared, "Stephanie?!"

He said calmly. "She doesn't want to see you again. It is both our wishes that you leave town and go back to Trenton and your own life." Dios, she is my life and I was too stubborn to realize it. I can't go back without her.

I changed my stance and crossed my arms over my chest. "I won't leave until I hear this news and request from her directly."

I turned as she walked out of his office. She looked me in the eyes. "It is my choice to make a life here with Mason. Goodbye, Ranger."

I slowly shook my head. "No. You still love me. I can see it in your eyes, Babe."

"Ranger, please don't make this harder than it already is. I figured you out. You don't want me for yourself, you just want me hooked and dangling for your enjoyment. Joe was safe because you knew I wouldn't marry him. That is just really awful and you should do the right thing and let me off that hook and walk away." She turned and walked back into the office and shut the door. I slammed the steel door shut that I had built so long ago to hide my emotions and the fact that I even had a heart. Then I turned and walked out the door.

* * *

><p>Mason walked in the office and looked at me. Tears were rolling down my face and he put his hand on my shoulder. "He's gone. Do you think he's going to leave now?"<p>

I sniffled and shrugged. "Who knows. I don't even know why he's here. He doesn't want a real relationship with me. He stayed away from me and let me go back to my ex boyfriend even after he was shot saving me and his daughter, Julie. Thanks for what you did, Mason. I know he gave you his mercenary face. Most men would have turned and ran, leaving a pee trail behind them."

He started chuckling. "You don't know much about me. I don't scare that easy. I was a green beret in the military. I will say that he is intense. Are you sure that you don't want to talk to him again. He is going to be the father of that little baby and I think he sounds pretty damn sincere about wanting you back in his life. I've been a jackass before too. Plenty of times. I think it's secretly part of all men's DNA." That made me giggle. I got up and gave him a big hug. Then I got my purse and left to go home to Nell and Rex.

My eyes snapped open as I heard a car door shut and I looked around and turned as Ranger climbed into the driver seat of his Porsche and turned the key. My eyes turned to saucers. "Wha...what the hell are you doing?" I looked down at the blanket I was wrapped in. "Are you seriously kidnapping me?"

He turned and gave me a wicked grin. "Yeah, Babe. I am."

"You can't do this. I'm married, my husband…"

"Lied." He finished my sentence for me. Shit. Figures he would find out the truth about that. There are probably a half-dozen or more pee pee trails on the floor of the stupid courthouse right now.

"Please don't do this, Ranger," I pleaded.

He glanced at me and his knuckles gently touched my face. "I have to do this and do it now, Babe. For us and our baby and his future."

"His? You think it's a boy?"

He grinned at me. "I dreamed about him. I saw him. I love you both and we're going to be a family."

I was temporarily stunned by the fact that number one, he was talking very un-Ranger like and weird and two, he said he dreamed about us. I touched my stomach. A baby boy that looks like Ranger. He's going to be so handsome. Did he just say that he loved me? I'm dreaming again here.

Ranger turned to me and gave me a 1000 watt smile. "You bet he's going to be handsome and that's what I said, Babe."

I sighed. "Batman ESP or did I say that out loud?" He just kept smiling and took my hand and brought it to his lips and kissed the back and then turned it and kissed my palm and I felt a tingle shoot all the way to my nether parts. Durn doodah!

He winked and said, "You lied too, Babe." Then he started the car and pulled away.

There wasn't a damn thing that I could do right now. I was strapped into the Batmobile and he was flying down the interstate taking me God knows where. I just pushed the button on the side of my seat and leaned back and closed my eyes.

TBC -


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter, and the reviews and messages even after I took Chapter 7 down! They were great! Now, I hope that I've done this tale justice with a better ending. **

**I had taken it down because I kept getting negative and borderline rude reviews on the ending. It was hurried and I tried to cover that fact up with humor. It just didn't work for the story. I was frustrated and dealing with a stalker type reviewer. Needed to take a break. My regular readers did call me on it, they know me. I apologize for the wait and thank you for all your support. Here you go. There will be another chapter coming after this one. **

Previously -

_He winked and said, "You lied too, Babe." Then he started the car and pulled away._

_There wasn't a damn thing that I could do right now. I was strapped into the Batmobile and he was flying down the interstate taking me God knows where. I just pushed the button on the side of my seat and leaned back and closed my eyes._

**Chapter 7**

I was burning up. Nell must have really turned up her furnace or I'm laying on an electric blanket. I opened my eyes and blinked. Wait a minute. Where am I? I raised my head and looked around and then down. I was looking at a perfectly toned torso covered by silky smooth mocha latte colored skin with just a tiny sprinkling of dark hair. That's right. I remember. He kidnapped me.

My arms were around him and he moaned when I moved. I tried to roll off him and the arm around my waist held me firmly in place. So firmly that I felt his arousal pressing hard against my leg that was draped over one of his. Well, crap. This man is like a magnet and I'm the polar opposite. Whenever I'm near him, I end up stuck to him.

I grouched out, "Let me go, Ranger. Pregnant woman with full bladder here." He released his hold and I got up and headed to the closest door which I guesstimated was the bathroom.

I shut the door and did my business and went to the sink to wash my hands, looking down I gasped. I stood there blinking at the shiny bauble on my ring finger. It was a diamond and not a dinky diamond either. I stomped out of the bathroom and held out my hand. "Ranger, what is this?"

He raised up on one elbow and let the cover slip down exposing a happy trail and part of Mr. Happy enclosed in perfectly sculpted hips, and pelvis. I was staring and he slowly moved his left hand over his abs while grinning at me. "I have some things to say to you, and I haven't been able to have a private moment to say what I need to say."

"Well, cover your man parts, spit it out, and then explain the ring." I waved my hand around in a circle. "You're being distracting..."

Wearing his amused smirk, he said, "I had no choice. If I didn't put a ring on it now, somebody else would have."

"I'm not marrying you just because I'm knocked up. I appreciate that you want to do the right thing and give the kid your name, but I'm not going through another divorce after the baby is born. Forget it, we can work the name thing out."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm not asking because I feel obligated, I'm asking because I love you, Babe. I didn't know how much, until you were gone."

I took in some air and blew it out. "I'm sorry, but I can't, Ranger. I trust you, except with my heart..."

He patted the sheets next to him. "Come here, please."

He said please. I always cave when he says please. I slowly walked over and sat down next to him. He took my hand with the ring on it and brought it to his lips and kissed it. "I have a secret to tell you."

I thought, _oh no, this is not going to be good_. _This guy doesn't have normal people secrets._ "Okay, I think I'm ready. Go ahead."

He gave me a big smile. I love it when he smiles. Bigger smile. "Babe, I figured out after you left, that I need you more than you ever needed me. I want you to marry me because I really do need you, and you are precious to me."

I was stunned. I gulped and swallowed tears back. "Well...um. That's about the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. That's what you were stalking me to tell me?"

He pulled me to him for a kiss and it was sweet and tender. Then he looked in my eyes and said, "Yes. I had to go to extreme measures just to say that. You belong with me. We belong together. I'm just slow where feelings are concerned, and figured it out when it was almost too late."

He reached down and rubbed a little circle around the tattoo on my behind and I got a hot flash, and not because I was pregnant. "B...but you don't want more children."

His kissed my hand again and my cheek. "I want you, and the baby in my life, and I want Julie back in my life. It's been empty for these last months. I'm asking you to please be my wife and my partner."

"I'm replacing Tank? Big Guy, probably wouldn't be happy about that."

"He can't give me what you give me."

"Um...he probably could. Did you ever ask him?"

He chuckled. "Babe...? You're stalling. Say yes, and I won't tell him you said that."

Feeling a tear emerging, I swiped at my eye and looked down. There was quite a large tent going up in that bed now. I pointed to it. "But, you have issues."

He chuckled again. "Say yes, and we'll deal with my issues. You're the only one that can help me."

Still staring at that sheet, I licked my lips. I loved what was underneath that sheet and to think it could be all mine? I removed my hand from his and got up, pacing the floor. All mine. Holy cow! Hmm. Tough decision.

He pulled the sheet back and slowly rose. Naked, Adonis, God's gift to women, me, all mine. I did a double take, wrong, a statue of Ranger would be way better. He sauntered over to me, hard-on bobbing in the wind. I wanted to snicker at that thought. Ranger's thing in the wind. Ha! I was seriously going kind of cuckoo right now. I was high on his testosterone and unreality.

He grinned as he reached me, put his arm around my waist, pulling my chin up with his finger to look at my face. That finger lightly grazed my lips before he lowered his own lips to mine. Then I surprised us both and grabbed my stomach, making a gagging sound. One and then the other Ranger brow furrowed, and I gave him a hard push and ran back to the bathroom, fell on to the bathroom tile, grabbing the bowl and heaved. I wondered what kind of turn was my life going to take now? I felt his hands gently pull my hair back from my face until I was finished. Then he helped me up off the floor and over to the sink. I got a drink of water, and he handed me a toothbrush.

He said, "Not the response I was hoping for when I asked you to marry me and kissed you, Babe."

I turned to him. I waved my hand up and down my body. "Let's have a reality check here. Things are getting ugly up in here. You want this?"

He smiled. "I want the good, the bad, _and_ the ugly..."

A Ranger joke, and a corny one at that. Maybe he _was_ changing. "I don't want to go through another divorce. How about we just try cohabitation to see how we like it."

He sighed. "If you're thinking about Rachel. We didn't really love each other. That pregnancy was the result of a one-night stand. Just sex."

I threw up my hands. "That's what I am to you. Just sex."

He shook his head. "You know that's not true. We've invested. We have a foundation, and we do love each other. We have a relationship already."

The last part of that comment made my eyes cross. "No, we don't. You don't do those. Remember?"

He crossed his arms and grinned. "I lied. It was a dumb thing to say and so was some of the other shit I've said."

He waited until I brushed my teeth and leaned down and kissed me again. He pulled my night-shirt over my head and I glared at him. "What are you doing now?"

"We're going to get cleaned up and put our nice warm robes on. I've ordered breakfast and we'll have it in bed. I'm going to keep you there until you agree to marry me."

He got down on his knees and pulled my panties down, making me yelp when he dropped a kiss on my belly and lower. I couldn't see much of his head for my big belly, but I heard him mumble, "Marry me, Babe. I'm on my knees here."

"You're so twisted, Ranger." That got me a snicker and he stood and took my hand, leading me to the shower.

It was a nice shower. He pampered me, washing my hair, then my body while dropping little kisses on my face and neck. This was a totally different shower scene than the last one, and tears began to roll down my face. He kissed the tears and turned off the shower and dried me, grabbing a big fluffy robe hanging on a hook, and wrapped me in it. Then he took my hand and led me back to the bedroom and gently tucked me into the bed and pulled the covers over me.

Exasperated, I asked, "If I say yes, then what?"

He gave me an amused grin again. "We get married as soon as possible. I was worried that you really would pull a stunt and marry that guy or run again. A guy I know wants to marry me bad. He's happy as hell about the thought of me serious and wed. He's rubbing his hands together, with wicked glee in his beady eyes, hoping to see me paying for it and suffering soon. I was the guy that said it would never happen." That brought a smile to my face.

He shook his head and said, "Oh, you like that idea too, huh?" I couldn't help it, I nodded. He tied his robe and moved toward me like a cat ready to pounce and I squealed.

Just then there was a knock on the door and he turned, then looked back at me. "You're lucky woman, you're getting a temporary reprieve." Oh boy.

He walked out and in a few minutes, came back with a tray, and sat it on the bed. He pulled me up and fluffed my pillows, and asked what I wanted first. I pointed to the pancakes and bacon, and he smiled, handing me a plate and fork. Then he began nibbling on some eggs and fresh fruit. We ate in silence. He handed me a glass of juice to drink after every couple of bites. I was thinking how wonderful it would be to have many mornings like this with Ranger.

He stopped eating and looked at me. "Babe, I plan to pamper you and make you happy every day. I'll give you everything you'll allow me to give."

"ESP or I spilled my brains out loud."

He laughed. A really nice one with teeth. "I never did have ESP. If you didn't do that, I would have never gotten to know you. You're not an open book and you don't talk about your feelings, except unconsciously."

How embarrassing. "How much have I spilled before and how personal did I get?"

Wolf grin. "You narrate during sex. It turns me on."

I felt a massive flush begin in my face and start moving down my body. I sat my plate down so I could cover my stupid face with my hands. I mumbled, "Does it get worse?"

He removed a hand and nodded with the wolf grin still on his face. "When your my wife, I don't think I'll want you working in the cubicle area. One of the things the men liked was your mumblings about their anatomy. They got too much of a boost when you were around. Stakeouts with you were an interesting topic too."

"Aww, damn. That's enough. I don't want to hear anymore." He chuckled.

I looked at him seriously. "You should really take me back for your own good, Ranger. I'm a mess and marrying me because I'm pregnant just won't work. You don't have to be all noble and do the right thing. I don't want that. We can still be friends and work the rest out." And, it will hurt so bad, and so much worse later when you push me away, and let me and the baby go.

He shook his head. "I've already told you the real reason why I want to marry. I won't ever let you go..."

TBC _


	8. Chapter 8

**It seems you liked this wind down better. It does flow a little better than him marrying her without her acceptance. I agree. She needs to accept in this story for them to move along together. Thanks for hanging in there with me. Enjoy!**

**I'm getting better at the editing. All mistakes are now mine!**

Previously -

_I looked at him seriously. "You should really take me back for your own good, Ranger. I'm a mess and marrying me because I'm pregnant just won't work. You don't have to be all noble and do the right thing. I don't want that. We can still be friends and work the rest out." And, it will hurt so bad, and so much worse later when you push me away, and let me and the baby go._

_He shook his head. "I've already told you the real reason why I want to marry. I won't ever let you go..."_

**Chapter 8**

He removed the tray from the bed and then his robe, making me gulp trying to keep my tongue in my mouth. Then he crawled in the bed with me, reaching over and pulling me close to him. I looked at his handsome face. "So what now?"

He gave me one of his wolfier grins. "I can help with your decision. I'm going to show you some of my best moves."

Okay, that just makes me a little nervous. If he has better moves than he's already put on me, I'm doomed. Being pregnant, I'll explode and pop like a too ripe melon in the sun. "Ranger, you do realize I'm pregnant, not just bloated."

He snickered and opened my robe, running his hand over my stomach, gently caressing it. Agh, that felt good. Then he watched my face as he moved his hand lower until he was making little circles right above my sweet spot, and I wiggled a little. He held me there for a minute as the grin got bigger. The booger knows how impatient I am, and I was about to let him have it, when he lowered his head and kissed my neck, and at the same time he finger walked his way to my happy place, making my eyes nearly cross. Mercy, it had been so long and I was so hormonally weak. "Uh...no, maybe," I gasped out.

He began making little circles and whispered in my ear as he kissed and licked it. "Stephanie, I love you and I know how to make you feel good. Let me." Then his lips moved to my mouth and he licked a hot trail across both my top and bottom lip, then when I opened my mouth to gasp again, he snatched my tongue and sucked it into the heat of his mouth. My traitorous body betrayed me and my juices flowed, and I kissed him back. Dear Lord, I kissed him back with enthusiasm and fervor.

All he had to do was pull that robe aside, reach in, and rub his big calloused thumb across my nipple, and my first orgasm hit me. Before I had even recovered, he wrapped his arms around me and entered me, rolling us to the side to make me comfortable. He began moving slowly and whispering in my ear. This time, the words were in English. "You are the love of my life, Stephanie. It is empty and meaningless without you in it. For the rest of our lives, I swear that I will make sure that you know how much you mean to me, and I will never knowingly hurt you again. I swear this to you, my love, my Babe."

I melted into his embrace as his breathing became more labored as did mine. We both began moaning, seconds away from ecstasy. I felt the tingle begin to build inside me like a storm, and when the orgasm hit me, it was like lightning passing through me, it was so intense. I just hoped the storm didn't end with thunder, because that would be embarrassing. Ranger chuckled, right before he grunted, tensed, and then let go a string of Spanish words. Our lovemaking ended with him dropping little butterfly kisses all over my face. His words of love had been so sweet, it emotionally shook me. I knew that he had meant every word he had breathed. Ranger didn't lie.

He rolled over and collapsed on his back for a minute and then turned to me, and pulled me against him. "Oh, dolce Jesùs, Stephanie," he muttered and embraced me tightly. Tears stung my eyes and he kissed my face, licking where my tears fell, I buried my head in his neck, and wrapped my arms around him.

I felt loved and happy, and I whispered the word, "Yes," in his ear.

Ranger's response was to touch his lips to my forehead. Then he slid his thigh between mine and we fell asleep like that, in a lover's embrace. I drifted off buried in his warmth and fell into a dreamless sleep.

When we woke again, we were a little different. We were really like one. I called Mason the next day and told him that Ranger had discovered our lie, and I was now really getting married. Ranger and I spent another day together in the hotel at Niagara Falls. He had pulled some strings to get a marriage license and flown one of his friends in to marry us right there. Sneaky man. He'd asked me if I wanted another wedding, a big one, and I told him no. Then he asked if I minded having the honeymoon first, and I grinned and told him, hell no!

We went back to Buffalo the next day. Mason had just laughed about Ranger cornering me, and marrying me fast. I felt bad about him hiring me, and now I would be leaving. This time he and Ranger were introduced in a much better way. They found after talking for a while that they had some things in common and then Skip came in and joined them and before long, they were talking business.

When Ranger found out what a barely tapped goldmine Buffalo was for the BEA business, he made Mason and Skip an offer that they could hardly refuse. The offer was to buy them out and bring them under the Rangeman umbrella, and made plans to expand with Skip running the second office. He promised them crazy good salaries and benefits and manpower, along with training to expand the business into other areas like security.

Mason was thrilled and he said, "Curly Sue, if I had known before that I could get a deal like this out of this boy, I would have left bread crumbs leading here and pushed you out the door right into his hands when he got here." I scowled at him and they all started laughing.

The hardest part of leaving Buffalo, was leaving Nell. I would miss her so much and she had been looking forward to taking care of me while I was pregnant. Ranger told her that he would fly her to Trenton any time she wanted, and put her in one of the apartments at Rangeman for as long as she wanted to stay. That had made her happy and she said that she definitely wanted to visit before the baby came and then right after to help me.

* * *

><p>I waddled down the control room hall waving my hands. "Out of the way, tank coming through."<p>

The real Tank just happened to be standing down a ways with his hands on his hips grinning.

"Bomber, you're confusing my men and usurping my authority here."

I patted his big brown cheek and poked his rock hard belly. "What a big word and from such a big boy. Was that the word du jour on your calendar this fine day?" Bobby walked up about that time snickering.

Tank snorted and poked my belly. "Speaking of big boys, when is that boy gonna' make an appearance?"

Bobby said, "The longer he cooks, the bigger he's going to get and the harder it's going to be to push him out."

"Eek!"

Ranger stuck his head out of his office and grinned. "I was just doing a little research on late delivery. You're right. We have to do something. I want my woman back. This one won a farting contest against Lester last night and nobody has ever won against him."

Bobby cracked up. "Yeah, he was still pouting about that this morning."

I waved my hand dismissively at Ranger and said, "Don't get your jock strap in a twist, lover. That was a fluke. I had help. Junior rolled over and laid on my horn." They all three burst out laughing

Ranger leaned over and gave me a smooch on the lips followed by a wicked grin. "I read that they recommend giving him a little nudge to get moving." He winked at Tank and Bobby and threaded his fingers through mine and pulled me toward the elevator doors. Behind me, Tank was booming with laughter and Bobby was chuckling.

I made a face at him and put my hands on my grande sized child bearing hips. "What are you doing?"

He just put on his wolfie face and kissed me stupid on the way up to the apartment and then pulled me out dazed and grinning. I followed him all the way to the bedroom and he turned and began undressing me.

I sighed. "Ranger, I just spent loads of time getting dressed."

He had me pretty much naked and kicked off his boots and utility belt and began undressing himself. He was grinning ear to ear beams and said, "Okay, crawl up on the edge of the bed on all fours. We're going to wake Junior up. This might be my last hurrah for six weeks. So, I'm going balls to the wall, Babe."

I snickered. "Don't you mean hooah, Army man?" Then I grumbled, "Yeah, well just make sure you don't slam me through it. I'm not giving birth with my head stuck in the drywall and giving the whole 'burg a good story to tell."

He was chuckling as he turned me around and gave me another kiss that could make me out cream Elsie the cow.

He guffawed. "Babe?" Then he patted my butt and maneuvered me onto the bed and into the position that he wanted.

He worked his long nimble fingers until I was sweating and moaning and begging for a Cuban cigar and then he entered me. Whoa. I don't know about balls to the wall, but those balls were sure slapping me silly. I started making little noises and whimpering, he was moaning and growling and then I yelled out and he roared in happy abandon. Then like a water balloon popping; my water broke. I turned my head to look back at him, and Ranger was standing there grinning with this pink mucousy fluid running down his legs.

He said, "Damn, I'm good." I started giggling and he helped me off the bed and we headed to the shower.

He helped me get dressed again and we double checked my bag we'd packed a couple of weeks ago for the hospital trip. He called Tank and had called Ella to try to save the bedspread we'd likely ruined when my water broke. We were now just waiting for my contractions to really kick in. I hated hospitals and didn't want to go too early and just hang around.

Bobby came up to the apartment with his medical bag to check me and hover. He grinned and gave Ranger a fist bump, "Good job, boss."

I told him that I wished that I was staying here for the birth. He shrugged. "Maybe the next one. I'll study up on mid-wife skills and we'll put you in the hot tub and let you have a natural water birth."

No sooner than those words came out of his mouth, I let out a yowl, followed by a growl that buzzed his eyebrows as the wind passed by. He waved his hand and made a face. "Jesus Steph, what did you have for lunch?"

I breathed through the contraction and shrugged. "The next one my jiggly ass, Bobby. Um...today was just a sandwich."

Ranger was chuckling. "Babe, when I kissed you earlier, I had to remember the task at hand and how much I loved you."

I turned a glare on him and elbowed him. "It was good. It had garlic and pepper pickles, chocolate, Slim Jims, a Twinkie, mayo, olive oil, butter, salami, tuna fish and a little chili on a hoagie roll. Oh, and a piece of vidalia onion, and a slice of gouda."

Bobby wrinkled his nose and made a gagging noise and then looked at Ranger. "Christ! You watch her eat that shit and make all those noises she makes too? Santos had no idea what he was up against."

Ranger burst out laughing. Just then another pain hit me, and I turned to Ranger and breathed hell breath, and damnation for his blasted manhood in his face and he gagged and groaned.

He got up and walked away, coming back with a loaded toothbrush and a bowl of water, and handed me the brush. "Babe, brush and do it good. I don't want the doctor leaving the room half-way through the birth. I made a face at him and growled through another contraction. Then I brushed and spit and they both agreed that it was time to go.

Many growls, howls, and curses later, our son poked his head out and finally made his appearance, and then he was born. I asked Ranger if he looked like the baby in his dream, and he just smiled, and nodded looking down at him. He was beautiful. He had skin a couple of shades lighter than Ranger, and he had dark brown curls on his head and his eyes were surprisingly blue. How did that happen? We named him Desi Ricardo Manoso.

A lactation nurse came in and put him to my breast while they were finishing my delivery. He was just like his father. Learned his way quickly around that boob and latched right on. Ranger grinned, touching Desi's sprinkling of silky curls, and said, "Atta' boy." He leaned down and kissed me and wrapped a diamond tennis bracelet around my wrist. He had been showering me with expensive gifts for the last six months.

He got down on one knee and looked in my eyes. "Thank you for giving me your trust and love again, Babe. And, thank you for my beautiful son. Te quiero siempre y para siempre. I love you always and forever."

I touched his handsome face and looked down at my new little bundle and said, "One Ranger and a little Desi is all I'll ever need."

THE END


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